Passionate about IP! Since June 2003 the IPKat weblog has covered copyright, patent, trade mark, info-tech and privacy/confidentiality issues from a mainly UK and European perspective. The team is David Brophy, Birgit Clark, Merpel, Jeremy Phillips, Eleonora Rosati, Darren Smyth, Annsley Merelle Ward and Neil J. Wilkof. You're welcome to read, post comments and participate in our community. You can email the Kats here

For the half-year to 30 June 2015, the IPKat's regular team is supplemented by contributions from guest bloggers Suleman Ali, Tom Ohta and Valentina Torelli.

Regular round-ups of the previous week's blogposts are kindly compiled by Alberto Bellan.

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

The IPKat regrets to inform readers of the sad and untimely death of Knut, the celebrated polar bear who took the world of intellectual property by storm. The BBC has reported this morning that his death this weekend has reopened debate on the "ethical minefield of man's relationship with wild animals". According to the BBC,

"Knut was born in Berlin Zoo in December 2006. Rejected by his mother, he was put in an incubator and brought up by humans. His abandonment, cute looks and close relationship with the charismatic zookeeper Thomas Doerflein, turned him into a huge star. He became an environmental symbol, acting as a mascot for the German government's campaign against climate change and being superimposed into a photograph with Leonardo DiCaprio for Vanity Fair's Green Issue in May 2007".

The cause of death has not yet been ascertained. Despite his immense popularity, Knut never married.